Tag Archives: MapsOpener

Since the release of Apple’s own mapping solution found on iOS 6, the app has received generally unfavorable reviews. Most critics have described Apple Maps as inaccurate and lacking in features compared to Google Maps. But after Apple ditched Google Maps as the native mapping app for iOS after around five years, users had little choice for the past several months.

However, it was said that Google was working on a brand new mapping application for iOS that would soon be released into the App Store. Google has since fulfilled that promise, as users saw the return of Google Maps as a third-party app. Response to the app has been phenomenal, with over 10,000,000 downloads already. But, unfortunately, the app is not completely native on iOS devices.

Predictably, iOS 6 still redirects users to Apple’s own map application, even though Google’s fresh — and arguably better — intake of maps is now available. Thankfully, that’s where a new jailbreak tweak called MapsOpener from developer HASHBANG Productions comes in, setting the new map application as the default app on your iPhone or iPod touch.

MapsOpener is a “simple tweak [that] makes Google Maps links open in the new App Store app rather than the built in iOS app on iOS 5 and earlier.” It seems to permanently make Google’s new app the default application across the whole iOS ecosystem. For example, entering or clicking this link in Safari will direct you to Apple Maps on iOS 6, but with the tweak installed, the link will then direct you to Google’s new app. One thing to note about this tweak is that lifehacker “had mixed results getting MapsOpener to open the location in Google Maps,” but with few updates, that should be resolved. MapsOpener is a free jailbreak tweak found on the BigBoss repository in Cydia.